Grandmothers story: These men have done their duty

Published: April 15, 2004 8:00 PM

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John LoweThe Daily JeffersonianLORE CITY -- An area woman expressed frustration and distress Monday about a turn of events that, once again, will place her grandson in jeopardy.Wiletta Simpson said her grandson, U.S. Army Specialist Ralph Latimer, appeared to be on his way home recently from deployment to Iraq.Latimer had called Simpson to tell her he had arrived in Germany enroute back to the United States.Also, Simpson received a letter from the government informing her grandson was on his way home and expressing appreciation for the sacrifices he and the family had made during the deployment, Simpson said.Then, the next day, I got a call from him in Germany, Simpson said.He said, I dont know how to tell you this, but Im going back.Simpson said she had heard that, orders were changed and 22 percent of those service men and woman who were to have been rotated out of Iraq, instead were being shipped back to the Middle East.Apparently, Simpson said, the government had grown concerned that, with hostilities against the United States increasing recently, the military needed seasoned troops in Iraq.When I heard that, she said, I got hysterical. I thought it was terribly unfair.Simpson said she has heard that the troops could be in Baghdad for another 90 to 120 days.The way things are going there now, she said, its very disturbing. They say things are going to get worse before they get better.Because the state department had raised the hopes of the troops and their families, Simpson feels as if the government has reneged on a promise.This isnt right, she said. These men have been over there for more than a year. They have done their duty.